A process for the production of gaseous mixtures comprising H.sub.2 +CO by the partial oxidation of a feedstock comprising a heavy liquid hydrocarbonaceous fuel having a nickel- and vanadium-containing ash or petroleum coke having a nickel- and vanadium-containing ash, or mixtures thereof;
- and said feedstock includes a minimum of 0.5 wt. % of sulfur and said ash includes a minimum of 5.0 wt. % vanadium, a minimum of 2.0 wt. % of nickel, and silicon;
- comprising the steps of:
- (1) mixing together with said feedstock, additive A comprising an iron-containing additive when the silicon content of said feedstock is less than about 350 ppm, or additive B comprising an iron- and calcium-containing additive when the silicon content of said feedstock is about 400 ppm or more, wherein the weight ratio of additive A or B to said ash is in the range of about 1.0-10.0 to 1.0, and for each part by weight of vanadium there is at least 10 parts by weight of iron when additive A is used, or at least 10 parts by weight of iron plus calcium when additive B is used;
- (2) reacting the mixture from (1) at a temperature in the range of about 2200.degree. F. to 3000.degree. F. and a pressure in the range of about 5 to 250 atmospheres in a free-flow refractory-lined partial oxidation reaction zone with a free-oxygen containing gas in the presence of a temperature moderator and in a reducing atmosphere to produce a hot raw effluent gas stream comprising H.sub.2 +CO and entrained molten slag including vanadium-containing oxide laths and spinels;
- and where in said partial oxidation reaction zone when additive A is used said iron-containing additive combines with at least a portion of said nickel constituents and sulfur found in the feedstock to produce a liquid phase washing agent that collects and transports at least a portion of the vanadium-containing oxide laths and spinels and other ash components and refractory out of reaction zone;
- and when additive B is used separate portions of said iron- and calcium-containing additive (I) combine with a portion of said nickel, calcium and sulfur to generate a liquid phase washing agent that collects and transports a portion of the vanadium-containing oxide laths and spinels and other ash components and refractory;
- and (II) combine with a portion of said nickel, calcium and silicon to generate a liquid oxide-silicate phase that fluxes substantially all of the remaining portion of said vanadium-containing oxide laths and spinels and other ash components;
- (3) cooling and cleaning said hot raw effluent gas stream from (2) by direct contact with water in a quench zone to produce an aqueous suspension of slag and other small solid particles;
- (4) grinding and drying the slag and other particulate solids from (3) to produce a ground heterogeneous mixture of particles having varying magnetic susceptibilities, and non-magnetic solid particles;
- wherein said ground heterogeneous mixture of particles has a particle size of less than 180 microns, and a moisture content of less than 3.0 wt. %;
- (5) separating said ground heterogeneous mixture of particles from (4) by electromagnetic means including spaced apart poles by introducing a portion of said ground heterogeneous mixture of solid particles from (4) about 38 to 600 microns thick between the poles of said electromagnetic means having a low magnetic field strength in the range of about 10 to 1000 gausses, and separating a first portion of magnetic particles from a first residue mixture of magnetic and non-magnetic particles;
- wherein said first portion of magnetic particles comprises a heterogeneous mixture of particles of an Fe-Ni alloy and about 0 to 10 wt. % of magnetite particles;
- and said Fe-Ni alloy comprises about 70-95 wt. % Fe and the remainder Ni, and said Ni comprises about 40 to 85 wt. % of the total amount of nickel present in the ground mixture of solid particles from (4);
- and said first portion of magnetic particles comprises about 0.2 to 5.0 wt. % of the ground mixture of solid particles from (4);
- (6) separating said heterogeneous mixture of particles from (5) by electromagnetic means including spaced part poles by introducing a portion of said first residue mixture of magnetic and non-magnetic particles from (5) about 38 to 600 microns thick between the poles of said electromagnetic means having a medium magnetic field strength in the range of about 1,000 to 10,000 gausses, and separating a second portion of magnetic particles from a second residue mixture of magnetic and non-magnetic particles;
- wherein said second portion of magnetic particles comprises a heterogeneous mixture of particles which have a lesser magnetic susceptibility than that of the particles in said first portion of magnetic particles, and which comprises particles of a solid portion of Fe and Ni oxy-sulfide;
- about 0.1 to 2.0 wt. % of particles of vanadium compounds;
- and particles of iron silicate and calcium silicate;
- and said second portion of magnetic particles comprises about 85 to 98 wt. % of the ground mixture of solid particles from (4) and contains about 70 to 95 wt. % of the iron;
- and
- (7) separating said heterogeneous mixture of particles from (6) by electromagnetic means including spaced apart poles by introducing a portion of said second residue mixture of magnetic and non-magnetic particles from (6) about 38 to 600 microns thick between the poles of said electromagnetic means having a high magnetic field strength in the range of about 8,000 to 40,000 gausses, and separating a third portion of magnetic particles from a third residue mixture of particles;
- wherein said third portion of magnetic particles comprises a heterogeneous mixture of particles which have a lesser magnetic susceptibility than that of the particles in said second portion of magnetic particles, and which comprises particles of a vanadium-containing spinel;
- and a mixture of particles comprising at least one metal silicate wherein the metal in said metal silicate is selected from the group consisting of iron, magnesium, aluminum, calcium, and mixtures thereof;
- and said third portion of magnetic particles comprises about 1 to 14 wt. % of the ground mixture of solid particles from (4) and contains about 60 to 98 wt. % of the vanadium in said mixture from (4).